The University of Texas Medical Branch

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Cognitive-behavioral therapy for childhood anxiety and depression

For both depression and anxiety disorders in youths, there is increasing evidence of clinical benefit from cognitive-behavioral therapy, according to UTMB Dr. Karen Dineen Wagner. “It is important that residency training programs - particularly in child and adolescent psychiatry - include CBT as an essential component,” she wrote. “Ideally, child psychiatry residents should develop equal expertise in pharmacotherapy and in CBT. It is clear from our evidence-based treatments that CBT has become a core skill for clinicians who treat youths with anxiety or depressive disorders.”